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Urulluoi
Terrain and People Urulluoi The vast urulluoi is always considered to be a ‘Horse Lord’ domain. This is not strictly speaking true; the Horse Lords do dominate the majority of the plains but a number of other polities exist within or on the fringes of the plains. The Less Sakbe Road divides the plains roughly in half, and ends in Penarra, where a long bridge (80-100 km long) connects Penarra to the far shore of the Celedir Mountain domains. To the north, the Urulluoi is bounded by the Great Pale, a sheer cliff rising a kilometer or more into mountains, although much lower mountains than the Shield Wall. Horse Lords Organized under the KhaKhan (Great Khan) are seven Khans, each ruling a large domain. The KhaKhan rules them plus a domain of his own. The Horse Lords fight on horseback; their armies are entirely mounted, giving them great mobility. The warriors are trained from birth, and all serve in the armies. The KhaKhan can probably mount close to 500,000 warriors, although sustaining such a mass in one place would be well-nigh impossible in any way understood in the Human Theme. The Horse Lords abhor (and forbid) cities, living entirely nomad existences, although great nobles have extensive tent cities. Horse Lords use yak to produce wealth, along with some fixed mining and harvesting, done mostly by slaves, or by planting and then returning later in the season. * Heru Hyanda Note: Preliminary contacts here. The Khans have very good counter-intel and offending them could be costly, so no attempt to coopt Horse Lords themselves is made; only indirect contacts with non-Horse Lords living among the Horse Lords, plus some contacts with Amerinds. Amerind Tribes Co-extensive with the Horse Lords exist a large number of plains Amerind tribes. The tribes hunt herds of Arrivee bison or Urulluoi buffalo, considered a dangerous game. Because they and the Horse Lords have radically different economies, and because their herds eat different plants, the Amerinds are tolerated by the Great Khan. They often provide light scouting cavalry for Horse Lord armies. The two are considered to be on close terms. * Heru Hyanda Note: Amerinds are much less sophisticated than the Horse Lords. We have contacts with tribes in the southern four Khanates. Centaurs These grazing peoples also hunt buffalo and stay away from contact with Horse Lords and outsiders. They do deal with Amerinds. I am cautiously making contact. It appears these are primitive Centaurs, not the sophisticated ones we know in the Human Theme and the Kolokhai. Fringe Peoples - East Moving south to north, the Urulluoi borders the Blank Lands (qv), the Weirding Lands and the Dinosaur Downs. Weirding Lands The Weirding Lands are divided from the Urulluoi by low hills. Few cross; the events and inhabitants evidently inspire terror. Dinosaur Downs The Dinosaur Downs also separated from the Urulluoi by higher, sharper, hills. There is a microclimate considerably warmer than surrounding areas, and the prevailing terrain is savanna and swamp. Few people go here either – the Draykes come here to hunt and breed… Fringe Peoples - North Taiga Kings Atop the Great Pale begins the domain of the Taiga Kings. These hardy but rather primitive tribes hunt, fish, trap furs and trade south, mostly through the Horse Lords/Less Sakbe Road route. Their furs in particular are valued. They fight from various northern animals and afoot; and are fierce, but the Horse Lords and their small numbers prevent them from moving south into warmer climes. * Heru Hyanda Note: No effort here until base in Horse Lord lands is firmly established. Askimaux Farther north are only primitive tribes barely surviving on the frozen tundra. Little is known about them. Fringe Peoples - West The Land This area in the far North East of the urulluoi is bounded on the north by the Great Pale, on the east by the Eastern Outer Ocean, and on the south and west by ranges of low mountains in a very sharp square formation, separating The Land from the Urulluoi. Entry appears to be physically difficult, and also blocked by a group of highly trained warriors known as the Blood Guard. The Thumb A projection South and West of the Eastern Outer Ocean, some 1000 km long, and mostly uninhabited on all shores, including the Urulluoi. Local fisher peoples do maintain villages there. Bounding Mountains Very little moisture falls here, and the mountains are mostly unexplored. On the east side, bounded by a large desert, which does not help. Little known. Kolderaak The Kolderaak serves as the major sea outlet of the Horse Lords, apart from the use of the Roadking city ofc Pelodna. The South East most khanate maintains several small ports here, marginally legal and officially not considered ‘cities’. The people who operate the ports are not Horse Lords, who must be nomadic. Viridia Across the Kolderaak, the City State of The World Emperor maintains all states within its sway as tributaries. The City State of the World Emperor itself controls a narrow strait between the Kolderaak and the Viridian Sea. The Hanseatic League of Human Theme cities uses the Kolderaak to avoid Viridian taxes; the Hanse built a city at the South West end of the Kolderaak and dug a canal across a wide stretch of the Urulluoi, with what must have been Horse Lord connivance as the land is claimed by a Khanate. Hanse traffic uses this route exclusively, a sore point with the Roadkings and the Viridians. Viridia is a large city-state; contacts here already extensive. Viridia could be a major ally or problem. The Viridians are traditionally expansionist but after something called the Battle of Mt. Deismaar, have been content to remain in traditional boundaries. The current World Emperor appears to have other ideas. Shuriken Mountains Since these were also listed as in the Urulluoi, I'm purely guessing that they border both the Forest Primaevel and the Urulluoi. Inhabitants unknown. The only salient fact I know of the Shuriken is that Shaara’s Longsleep station was located somewhere in these mountains – why she chose such a distant place is unknown. Risks (To Combine) Horse Lords The Horse Lords have the capability to threaten all societies around them except, probably, the Forest Primaeval and societies beyond the Great Pale. They are highly organized, numerous and very efficient. A major potential threat, but the Horse Lords have not expanded beyond the Urulluoi as of yet, and appear to have no imminent plans do so. Shuriken Mountains Unknown. Military Horse Lords The Horse Lords have largest, most disciplined military in the eastern half or two-thirds of the Aesira continent. Shuriken Mountains Unknown. Economics Horse Lords Large but unknown. Products are mostly agricultural. However, considerable flows of luxury goods move south from the Taiga Kings through Horse Lord and then Roadking channels. Horse Lord/Roadking monopoly over these products nets them a large income. If the Draconic peoples could find a way to bring Taiga King goods south themselves, a considerable profit would result. Shuriken Mountains Unknown. Politics Horse Lords Relations with the Horse lords are exclusively the prerogative of the Great Khan. Khans do make local treaties and arrangements with those they directly border only. Such treaties are binding only on the local Khan, and only then when they pose no risk of involving the whole of the Horse Lords in war. Shuriken Mountains Unknown. Additional Information * None for now.